The Mercenary who Loved
by Ravenous Silentside
Summary: ::PART THREE UP:: Raven finds himself falling incidentally to a young lady he saw in the clearing one day---and he'll do whatever to woo her. Even if she's Schubaltz's younger sister! It's my first hetero fic so go easy on me. Raven X OC. R & R!
1. My Wildflower

The Mercenary who loved  
  
By RaVenous  
  
What?! Yes I'm alive---I think I'm the so far author who's only making new titles and updates. Just get re-charged from doujinshi scans, I will spill the entirety of my inspirations while I still have it. This fic is not in my list! It's borne of inspiration, yay for me! Updatey will come slow in 'Cruel Intentions' though *sighs and shrugs*  
  
Another midsummer theme just like my Karl x Irvine. By the way, this is my FIRST hetero fic in zoids, so go easy on me.  
  
----  
  
Part one: My Wildflower  
  
The sight of her took his breath away.  
  
He, a fierce and feared former mercenary, standing frozen beside his geno breaker, watched the young woman from the edge of the clearing. She stood captured for a timeless moment in prisms of misty white light that spilled into the forest. Had he not been alone, he'd asked even Shadow if she was a vision----a dream brone from the weakness of a man who had fought too many battles, traveled too much, and had too little sleep. For only a vision could have hair that rippled down her back, almost touching her knees. Hair the rich platinum blonde color of a bright sunrise. Only a vision could look so innocent. Only a vision could sing like the angels.  
  
To the very crowns of the trees her voice rose in song, a sound that he could only fathom was the music of heaven----clear, fresh and flawless. He moved closer, his search for water suddenly forgotten. At that moment it mattered little that his mouth held the dusty flavor of the road, so caught was he by this young lady.  
  
She bent down and picked up another bright yellow flower from the forest floor, weaving it into a garland of wildflowers and lush ivy that hung over her arm. She turned then, spinning on one foot while her hair flowed outward and her violet summer dress belled slightly. She was singing a bright and merry tune---a song to the kittens that frolicked at her feet.  
  
"I yearn to live and be free and merry, to fly among the stars. With widespread wings so light and airy, On a Midsummer night in June."  
  
A foolish song filled with whimsy, yet somehow it charmed him as nothing had in longer than he could remember. He continued to watch her.  
  
Soon a squirrel scurried down the tree, followed by two more. They stood on their branches and cocked their curious heads as she sang. Three rabbits hopped from the bracken and ferns, twitching their noses and tails instead of instinctively using their speedy legs to spring away. And the birds--- sparrows, robins, and hummingbirds---fluttered above her.  
  
Odd, he thought, how the animals had no fear of her. Like as if they were drawn like he was to a siren's sweet sound. He asked himself if he had been too long at the battlefield. Had he seen so much bloodshed, been away from his home so long that the mere sight of a New Helix's beauty made his mind play him false? The forest was a dark place of legend, the setting for the evil side of a traveler's tale, and home to trolls and witches, if one was to believe in fancy.  
  
But fancy was not for men of war, anymore than a young woman could turn into a fairy. No, to a warrior's mind, the forest was a place for thieves and wastrels, and the best possible place for ambush.  
  
His sixth sense told him there was no danger there. As though enchanted, this forest appeared to come alive in the joyful aura of this one small and lovely creature. And he felt it too, that full feeling of life he'd thought was long lost. Or perhaps it had never even been there.  
  
She danced over to a small bubbling stream where she lifted her skirts and skipped stone to stone, laughing when the birds followed her and squirrels, rabbits, and kittens watched her from the bank.  
  
He smiled  
  
In Zi's name---he asked himself how long had it been since something had touched him so. He knew the answer---too long.  
  
She came back to the clearing, still singing and dancing. Added to her audience were bright butterflies that fluttered through the shimmering mist and a plump white duck with a trail of fluffy butter-colored ducklings that waddled like drunken soldiers from the stream.  
  
He had never seen anything like this.  
  
Humming now, she danced a bit closer, pausing at a rock where where she picked up a pair of beige colored shoes. She chattered to the animals while she dusted the leaves off a small pale foot and slid into the shoe, then propped her foot on the rock so she could tie the laces around the slimmest ankle he'd seen in months.  
  
She finished with her other shoe and gathered the kittens into a small willow basket before she picked up her wildflower garland, this time tucking it around her small waist. She lifted the top on one side of her basket and spoke to kittens, calling them by name, silly, fanciful names that made him smile again. She moved closer to where he stood and when she was but a few feet away she set down the basket, then picked up, then picked up a dark velvet mantle and swung it around her, tying it securely beneath her small firm chin.  
  
In a gesture that almost made him groan aloud, she combed her fingers through her platinum blonde locks and lifted it, then raised her gaze at the same time. She stood before him, completely unaware of his existence, which almost made him laugh at the irony, for he was aware of nothing but her.  
  
She had a face that was proof of Heaven's perfection---a small nose, lips of rose, and her skin like shimmering pale cream shade of dunes in the desert. But her eyes were that stuck him, knocked his breath from him as surely as if he had been struck with Van's Blade Liger. They weren't the usual pacific blue, or the familiar dark brown eyes.  
  
They were of purest emeralds that shone with yellowish hue, bright like the wildflowers she picked. Yellowish-green eyes. Wild eyes, he thought, watching as she turned and moved toward the opposite end of the clearing. He knew he'd seen such familiar eyes before-although not as intense as this beauty in front of him now.  
  
Then from a distance, he heard a low rumble of vehicles passing through the end of the clearing. Imperial soldiers probably an entourage, he thought, and cautiously took a few steps back. The young lady quickly turned her head to that direction and scooped her things gently and made long quick strides towards one of the vehicle behind an armored truck. It was like an end of a blissful dream.  
  
"Brother!" she called out,  
  
Raven waited for a few seconds, then followed slowly, using the thick grove of ash trees and heavy mist as a shield. The sight of the forest and the meadow ended on toward a craggy hillside road, and one of the imperial men came out of their vehicle to meet the girl. Above one of the vehicle, flap the distinctive flag of the Imperial 1st Panzer Division Unit.  
  
The man who came down to greet the girl removed his cap and exposed a crown of his own blonde hair. He smiled embarrassingly as she placed the wild flower garland to his neck. Although much tamer in color, he have her similar set of green eyes.  
  
Green eyes. Schubaltz eyes. No wonder they look familiar. The young lady is the Imperial Colonel's younger sister!  
  
But still he stood there, his arms crossed as he leaned against the trunk of an ash tree. For the longest time---time where seconds turned into eternal minutes---he just stood there, watching---thinking, then making a decision with the same swiftness and gut instinct he used on the battlefield.  
  
He moved back to the stream, knelt and took a drink. He wiped his mouth and looked at his reflection for a moment, but his mind played zoidian tricks on him, for he saw not his image in the silvery water, but her sweet face staring back at him.  
  
His sense returned swiftly and he stood, calling himself a love struck bastard. He called for Shadow, and then mobilize away towards the high way that rimmed the thick forest.  
  
The round wound northward, a ribbon of dirt in the lush green countryside of the colony. Before closing his cockpit, he took one long look at the vehicles of the Imperial 1st Panzer Unit under Colonel Schubaltz move away. For a heartbeat, he allowed himself one final golden moment of her memory.  
  
She would be him---yes, she would, this fairy child, the woman, a Schubaltz, with eyes so wild.  
  
He vowed that she would be his, because after years of waging war and living in dry foreign colonies, after years of bloodshed and waking to the clash of a zoid and firing a charge particle beam, after years of loneliness, he wanted, needed, a little gentleness and peace in his hard life.  
  
Then Zi's former deadly mercenary, Raven, closed his cockpit and flew away. He made up his mind.  
  
-CONTINUED!!- 


	2. The Plot

The Mercenary who loved  
  
By RaVenous  
  
NOTE:: There is a GERMAN conversation inserted in the middle of the story o_O Sorry, no time for translation ^_^ (I'm too lazy to type, but you can email me.) Domo Arigatou to Fraulein Colonel for the translations---erm, the conversation will be further explained in the next chapter o_o  
  
It's not a bad hetero, right? I know its quite Disney ~_~ must be the RPGs im playing right now. Hahaha! *plays her kingdom hearts*  
  
----  
  
Part two: The Plot  
  
One month later, somewhere  
  
"Schubaltz is a hardheaded bastard!!" Raven paced the inn's quarters while his companion, Reys, watched him with such amusement.  
  
"Raven, dear. Will you cease that infernal pacing? Makes me light-headed."  
  
The gray haired pilot stopped in front of his zoidian companion and growled, "The man has refused my---fifth---FIFTH offer for his sister!"  
  
"What was the reason this time?"  
  
"Same as the last four times. He adamantly refuses to force his younger sister to wed."  
  
"I assumed you have given a tempting offer."  
  
"Yeah, I'll surrender my geno breaker if I had to!"  
  
Reys gawked, then muttered, "I believe I need to meet the Fraulein Schubaltz, it's interesting that how a sight of her could cloud your mind like mind control." The blue-haired zoidian looked at her friend and laughed, then raised a hand. "Stop glowering. You've lost your sense of humor, Raven."  
  
"Any sane man who had spent three hours haggling with that stubborn goat would no longer have sense of humor."  
  
"He might be a stubborn goat now, but you don't know who you are dealing with, Raven. HE is the Colonel Schubaltz; his line has been intensely loyal and served the crown for over forty years. He has also his brother following his footsteps. The royal family owed him greatly." Her voice lowered to a more serious tone. "And if you try to mess up with a Fraulein from the Schubaltz clan, you are going to end up messing with the whole imperial force. So If I were you, I will not force him."  
  
"There must be a way---"  
  
Both of them became silent.  
  
The zoidian rubbed her chin thoughtfully and said, "I could make a---" she paused as if searching for the correct word, "---a mental suggestion to Col. Schubaltz."  
  
Raven looked up, "What kind of suggestion?"  
  
"The colonel claims he will not force his sister to wed."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Suppose you can convince the lady to accept you? To wed you willingly. Of her own free choice."  
  
Raven was silent for a moment and then said, "You are proposing that I court her."  
  
Reys nodded. "If Schubaltz's only objection is the matter of forcing her into marriage. You need only agree to woo the girl."  
  
Raven swore viciously.  
  
Reys laughed. "Come, now. It wouldn't be that difficult. You forget. I've seen you when you are driven to win a battle. Take this as a challenge. Your own war, the spoil of which is the Fraulein Tamara Schubaltz."  
  
"Fine!" Raven snapped, beginning to pace again in agitation. "But to waylay any interference from the colonel I want time alone with her." He looked at the blue haired zoidian.  
  
"I'll make that point when I persuade the colonel to allow you opportunity to court her." Reys sat silently, and then laughed somewhat wickedly. "A Schubaltz's pride won't allow him to deny this. He will be forced to agree."  
  
----  
  
After around a month, in the Schubaltz Mansion---  
  
Two of the loyal German house keeps were talking as they stood by barrel vats of steaming wash water. One of them was busy wringing out some freshly rinsed linen while the other stirred a wad of boiling soapy bed sheets with a huge laundry paddle.  
  
"Sie sprachen Ã¼ber ihn dieses Abendessen"  
  
"Ã?ber wem?"  
  
"Er"  
  
"Das namenlose?"  
  
"Ja"  
  
"Er konnte hier vor dem Monat kommen ist heraus"  
  
"Ich weiÃ?"  
  
"kÃ nnen Sie sich vorstellen zu sein wedded zu einem Rohling? Ich hÃ rte den Kaiser selbst bewilligte ihm Entschuldigung sogar selbst wenn er zerstÃ rte einige militÃ¤rische Unterseiten und hatte gedauert viele Leben."  
  
"GlÃ¤tten Sie -- Frauen?"  
  
"Ja, tÃ tete er Frauen mit seinen bloÃ?en HÃ¤nden. Sehr groÃ?e HÃ¤nde. HaarhÃ¤nde. HÃ¤nde GrÃ Ã?e der haunches eines Ebers. Sie sagten er zerquetschte die Luft von ihren BrÃ¼sten"  
  
"Er hat ZiegefÃ Ã?e"  
  
"Wie der Teufel selbst"  
  
"Ja die sehr selben"  
  
"sein kennt eine gute Sache Fraulein Tamara Naught dieser Vereinbarung. Schlechte kleine Sache, wedded zu so. Wie kÃ nnen Sie der Oberst tun dies seine eigene Baby schwester an?  
  
"er hatte keine Wahl. Es wurde gesagt, daÃ? einiges war an der Arbeit Verstand-betrÃ¼gen Sie, sagten sie daÃ? dieses namenlose sogar vorgespannt Hilfe von einem alten zoidian. Dieses zoidian zwang den Schurkeen und den Oberst zu treffen, aber, als er bildete eine Vereinbarung, war er unter Verstand, den, Steuerung-es als er hÃ¼bsches zu spÃ¤tes war verwirklicht, was er hatte getan."  
  
"Ich wÃ¼rde eher weg laufen--"  
  
"Zu wo?"  
  
"warum zu New Helix City selbstverstÃ¤ndlich. Wenn der Oberst nichts Ã¼ber es tun kÃ nnte, mÃ glicherweise die guardian force Dose."  
  
"Ja in der Tat, Tamaras ist anderer Bruder mit dem guardian force, Thomas. Er ist ein Leutnant, nicht ist er?"  
  
"Ja. Aber Sie sind aus Ihrem Esprit heraus, wenn Sie das gegangene Gehen zu New Helix haben, keine Frau kÃ nnen bis jetzt reisen a Abstand alleine."  
"Aber, wenn ich Fraulein Tamara war, wÃ¼rde ich meinen eigenen Schutz anstellen, um mich zu eskortieren." The maid paused, and whispered. "Herr Raven"  
  
"Der Schurke?"  
  
"Ja, mÃ gen sie devour MÃ¤nner so den namenlos fÃr das Abendessen. Er kÃ nnte eine Arbeit erhalten ziemlich freundlich erledigt in einem SchnÃ¤pper wie lang als Sie nennen Sie Ihren Preis. GerÃ¼chte hatten ihn, daÃ? er ist 'undefeated' sogar mit den Gleichen von VAN FLYHEIGHT."  
  
"Jemand sein Gleichgestelltes? Das ist etwas."  
  
"Ich hÃ rte ihn bin innerhalb der Kolonie, Sie kann ihn am geraden nahen des Falke-Haustavern finden das abschÃ¼ssige, ein Jeep Fahrt weg."  
  
"Und gerade wie wÃ¼rde sie weg erhalten, selbst wenn sie ihn Ã¼berzeugen kÃ nnte, seine Eskorte zu sein? Der Oberst wÃ¼rde kommen nach ihrem ---"  
  
"Der Oberst wurde durch den Kaiser und den Rest der imperialen Offiziere fÃr eine Konferenz morgen eingeladen. Er wird fÃ r eine Woche gegangen. Sicher ist die genÃ¼gend Zeit, weg sicher zu sein."  
  
A loud scraping sound echoed around the stone laundry room.  
  
"Oh!" one of the laundry maid jumped, then spun around suddenly, her sharp gaze searching. "Vhat was that?" she said in halting hard English.  
  
The other one shrugged, then went back to her stirring paddle, she spoke finally in English, "Most likely, one of Fraulein Tamara's cats mousing on the back stairs." After a moment she stopped stirring again and leaned on a paddle. "I wonder what WILL happen to all those animals if the Nameless one comes?"  
  
The other laundry maid looked at her and then lifted a linen shirt from the rinse barrel. With a sharp and fierce twist, she wrung it dry. "Zat, what will happen."  
  
Tamara slid back the peep slot and tiptoed up the small stone steps of the hidden passage way. She felt in the dark for the door handle and slowly pulled it open. She slipped into a back castle corridor and pressed against the stone walls. Her heart hammered high in her throat and she felt ill and fearful at the thought of the man---the monster among zoid warriors, a man who does not have a memory or name--Nameless-her brother would make her wed! And if she understands it correctly during the conversation, this Nameless mercenary employed a help from an ancient zoidian to fulfill his sick desire! The man must be horrid if her eldest brother had not even yet told her about him. After all, Tamara never KNEW much goes on outside her brother's businesses. She was raised to live in the tranquility of this place, this family legacy, and was kept away from the affairs of men: war and battlefield. She knew only of stories only when told. Tamara slowly moved towards her chambers as one of those condemned walks toward the block, head down, shoulders sagging, and her hands folded tightly in front of her.  
  
Within a few minutes later four cats trailed behind her and one still little more than a kitten nipped at her heels., then bit down on a scrap of her hem; Tamara dragging him as she walked. She stopped around and turned. "Shadow! You must stop that." She bent and picked up the kitten, stroking its black fur.  
  
She looked down at the growing group of cats gathering so trustingly at her feet. They stared back at her with eyes full of devotion. She almost burst into tears. She hugged 'shadow' closer to her chest, unconsciously protecting his small neck with her hand, and she raised her chin. "No one will harm you, no one. Nie---"  
  
She spun around and ran up the stairs toward her chamber. Shadow clutched to her and the other cats trotted devotedly along behind her. She opened her chamber door, then peered up and down the corridor. When no one appeared she leaned down close to the cats and whispered, "Come sweetlings. Zeke, Ambient and Specula. Come inside, I have a plan."  
  
-CONTINUED- 


	3. A battle I intended not to lose

The mercenary who loved  
  
By RaVen0us  
  
Note: Yes, crazy german language and a lot of annotations gone wrong o_o from previous chapters *bangs computer for faulty codes* It will be further explained here anyway in the third chapter. It will be easier in the eyes now, less Disney and more double *snerks* hints---  
  
::polishes her OC::  
  
~Ravenous ---- Part three: A battle I intended not to lose  
  
As plans went, this looked to have all the makings of a poor one.  
  
Fraulein Tamara pulled the hood of her dark mantle toward and glanced around the dim cavern. It was loud, smelly, and almost unbearably stuffy, made so by the downdraft of blazing fire in a sooty stone hearth, and what appeared to be a veritable sea of chaotic manhood raising tankards of yeasty ale.  
  
For strength she took a deep breath, blanched at the stink, and then stepped into the lantern light, slowly and purposefully moving towards a large table in the corner. Hearty male laughter grew louder for only a brief instant, and then the crowd began to part, slowly, man by man, in front of her.  
  
From behind she could hear the suddenness of stunned silence, until the last rowdy warrior quieted and moved out of her way. Tamara faced the one man she sought. And had her first true taste of fear.  
  
Raven sat sprawled in a chair, his lean legs outstretched, his worn leather boots crossed at the ankle and propped on the table edge. It was a relaxed stance, yet instinct told her he wasn't unaware of her as he appeared. She glanced down, only to see his battle scarred hand slide to the hilt of a dagger that was slung almost too casually from a studded belt at his waist.  
  
He wore a dark earth toned tunic spotted with spilled ale and his free hand gripped a frothy metal tankard. She could imagine why he got such scarred hands. He must be a great zoid mercenary who rode and fought to the death in the deadliest battles of all Zi.  
  
She looked at his face again, and almost ran.  
  
No emotion showed his expression. Nothing but time-weathered experience and the scores of battles he was rumored to have fought, and won.  
  
His hair was deep of color of gray and quite longish for a man. But it was his face she could never forget. It was sharp and has well proportioned angles. His skin was pallid and was almost flawless, except for that red- mark creased below the eye that runs down to his right jaw. It was the mark of the mercenary named Raven, a battle-scarred zoid warrior who will sell his finely honed skills to the highest bidder.  
  
And that's why she was here. Fraulein Tamara of the Schubaltz line, youngest and only sister to the Imperial Colonel Schubaltz of the Guylo's empire, intended to buy herself a warrior.  
  
Until she actually faced the mercenary zoid warrior whose determined jaw and keen indigo eyes showed a ruthless intelligence she'd never before seen in any man. Perhaps now that she saw him, she thought quickly, she would not buy THIS particular warrior. And certainly not tonight.  
  
Suddenly gutless, she turned.  
  
Run!  
  
She took a quick step.  
  
He was quicker. His arm whipped out in front of her. She caught a flash of something silver, and froze. He pulled out his dagger to block her path.  
  
She turned around slowly, then took a small step backward and stopped, feeling the wide steel blade of his dagger pressed flatly against his lower back. The air left her lungs.  
  
Not even a breath could be heard, though her heart's pounding grew louder in her ears. There must have been fifty men in the tavern, but at that very moment the room was utterly silent. Nothing----until the random snap of a green log in the fireplace crackled through air that was tense as dawn on a battlefield.  
  
Tamara watched Raven. He paused, assurance to everyone in the room that he was in command, and then he laid the dagger on the table as if to say, 'you may run now'.  
  
She squared her shoulders and met his gaze. His expression showed he knew exactly what she was thinking. She said the first stupid thing that came to her tongue, "I've heard you can be bought."  
  
He said nothing, but raised his tankard of ale and drank deeply.  
  
She swallowed thickly. "I meant your service could be bought."  
  
He stared at her, directly, assessing her, unnervingly so.  
  
"Actually----I meant I need to buy protection." She blurted out, and then winced slightly because her voice cracked.  
  
He gave her the oddest look.  
  
She took another breath, her mind desperate and racing. He was a man--- she'd never pride a stroke. It worked with her oldest brother. "I wish to buy your known expertise!"  
  
Raven set the tankard on the table and let his gaze rove slowly from her face to her toes, where he paused, took another drink of ale as if time were his alone, then just as slowly he looked upward, stopping with interest every so often. He paused, staring at his tankard as he said almost too casually, "I see no cash."  
  
Her knees were quivering and air felt tight in her chest. What in God's name was she doing here? She took a deep breath and pulled off a small suitcase from inside her cloak, wishing it was prayer beads, and held it up.  
  
She smiled. He didn't.  
  
Tamara raised her chin a notch. With a dramatic flair she gently shoved the suitcase toward the table.  
  
The case hit the table top as she'd planned. Then she watched in horror as the suitcase kept going, and slid right off the ledge.  
  
It landed squarely in his lap.  
  
Her mouth dropped open and for a horrified instant she just stared at it. With a mental groan, she closed her eyes. A heartbeat and a tight breath later she opened them.  
  
He was staring pointedly at the suitcase, and then he looked up, a flicker of amusement on his face.  
  
"Ha!" someone behind her shouted. "Now we know WHAT expertise the lady wants to buy, Raven!"  
  
Rowdy male laughter filled the room.  
  
"Not merely his expertise. But his KNOWN expertise!" another voice shouted.  
  
Her face flushed hot and she fervently wished the earth would just open up and swallow her. She spun around and took a step.  
  
But again Raven was quicker.  
  
His hand shot out and grasped a handful of her cloak.  
  
She couldn't move. Couldn't run.  
  
She tried to pull free.  
  
Slowly he drew her back toward him. She grabbed at the ties under her chin and jerked them loose. Her cloak fell away.  
  
Run! run!  
  
But there was no place to run.  
  
There was nothing before her but a wall of grinning male faces and huge bodies. She shoved at the crowd, her tears of humiliation changed to tears of fear and they fell as quickly as her heart pounded. If only her other brother, Thomas, was here---  
  
She could sense the mercenary standing behind her, and then his shadow blocked the weak candle light from the swinging lantern above her. His hands closed over her shoulders and he spun her around. She tried to wiggle free. But even in a blood rush of fear her strength was puny compared to his.  
  
She took a deep quivering breath and looked up at him through a mist of frightening tears. She expected to see savagery in his expression. Cruelty, from a man so greatly feared.  
  
But it wasn't cruelty she saw. It was something else, some odd emotion. Just as quickly that emotion disappeared and he looked away, although his hands still gripped her so tightly she couldn't move. He turned to the crowd then pulled her flush against him with one powerful arm clamped across her collarbone.  
  
She still cried harder, silent tears that wouldn't let her catch a full breath.  
  
"Leave off!!" His shout filled the room and the jeers and laughter died suddenly. With his free hand he threw the suitcase to the barkeep. "Keep the drinks flowing all night, till every man here has his fill."  
  
A cheer erupted as loud as a battle cry and the men shifted and charged to the tavern bar. She tried to swallow but was struck still with fear.  
  
His mouth moved next to her ear. "I won't harm you---Fraulein." He whispered, "Calm yourself." He turned around and released her, but didn't move away, his body providing a shield.  
  
Tamara bit her lip and stared at the toes of her boots. He bent down and retrieved her fallen cloak. There lay below the hood is the sewn family emblem, the unicorn insignia. He must have known instantly who she might be- --or he won't call her 'fraulein'. (Fraulein= means Lady, in German) He did not give it to her, but instead laid it over one arm. She took a deep quivering breath, and another.  
  
"Can you not look at me?"  
  
She shook her head, knowing what she would see if she looked up at him.  
  
"I said, I would not harm you." He added quietly.  
  
"Perhaps you wouldn't harm me. But neither will you help me."  
  
He reached out and tilted her chin up with a scarred palm. "I've just spent your cash on a few hogshead of liquor." He shrugged, and then added, "Seems, my Fraulein, that you already brought your protection."  
  
She watched him uneasily.  
  
"Come."  
  
She looked down and saw that he held his hand out for her. It was a hard hand, calloused from fighting in the battlefield and crossed with deep thin ragged dark scars.  
  
"We will speak in private."  
  
Suspicious, she watched his expression again and saw an unexpected gentleness.  
  
There was something more, something that told her he carried a bit of his own fear. With a sudden realization she read that fear and knew he was afraid that she wouldn't go with him.  
  
She stared. He covered his vulnerability quickly, with the same cold and hard look he'd first given to her. She stood there looking at this fierce zoid warrior who had only moments before frightened the very breath from her. Suddenly she was struck by something familiar about his manner. She watched him a moment longer before she knew what it was.  
  
He was like a wounded animal that attacks in fear, strikes out and fights viciously when cornered because he is acutely aware that he can be easily conquered. In that one instant, she understood Raven and her fear for him waned away. Without a worry, she placed her hand in his and slowly raised her head.  
  
His face was unreadable. He led her through the crowd toward the opposite side of the tavern. She was aware of little but the feel of his hand about hers. He held her hand with gentle firmness. She could feel the hard scars of his palm against hers and she could feel his warmth. Somehow that too, made him seem more human.  
  
He stopped in front of a thick oaken door near the rear of the tavern. She hesitated.  
  
Raven looked at her and then gave a short bark of wry laughter as he opened the door. "I assure you, Fraulein, it is not the door to hell."  
  
She looked into his face and read the challenge there. She took a deep breath and a step. "I know your words are meant to amuse, warrior, but"-she raised her chin as she passed him---"there is some element of truth in every jest."  
  
Raven said nothing as he followed her inside, just hung her cloak on a peg and gestured her to sit in one of the large chairs that flanked another smaller fireplace. Tamara sat and arranged her skirts in the silence, then looked around the room, trying to choose her words more carefully than she had earlier.  
  
He sank into the other chair and watched her through narrowed eyes, his jaw tense, and his hands stiffer than before.  
  
"I am Fraulein Tamara of the Schubaltz clan, and I need safe conduct to New Helix to see one of my brothers. Tomorrow."  
  
"Why tomorrow?" He wasn't looking at her. But instead, he sat a rubbing finger over his lips and staring at the opposite wall.  
  
"Tomorrow my eldest brother, the Imperial army colonel, will leave for a week. It will be the only chance I shall have to leave."  
  
"New Helix is near the north borders."  
  
"Ja---I mean, yes."  
  
"The journey will take at least six days."  
  
She stared at her folded hands. "I know."  
  
Raven was silent for awhile for what seemed like a very long time, then he leaned back in the chair and pinned her with a hard stare. "Why?"  
  
She looked at him then and said, "Why? Because I asked."  
  
He started, and then frowned. "Asked what?"  
  
"How long the journey was."  
  
Raven eyed her for the longest time, strangely, as if she had two heads. He looked away and cleared his throat. When he looked back he seemed to be chewing on the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. "I'll try this again. WHY, Fraulein, do you wish to go New Helix to meet your other brother?"  
  
"I'm seeking help, because I'm being forced to wed---" she paused, then sighed and hung her head miserably, "the horrid mercenary without a name."  
  
He said nothing  
  
She looked up and added, "He kills women."  
  
Silence  
  
"With his bare scarred hands. His hairy scarred hands."  
  
Still he said nothing, but his eyes narrowed slightly.  
  
She gripped the arms of her chair and leaned closer. "He has cloven feet, can you imagine?"  
  
"Not quite," he answered through a tight jaw.  
  
"It would be like being wed to the devil himself."  
  
Raven stood up and slowly walked over to the fireplace, where he leaned against its stone face, rested a boot on the andiron, and looked at her without emotion.  
  
"He killed so very many zoid pilots in the battlefield."  
  
"In a war, men are killed." He said without emotion.  
  
"Thousands of men." She looked at him directly in the eye and whispered painfully, "He'll murder my animals."  
  
He no longer stood casually, as if her words didn't matter to him. He stared into the fire. Everything about Raven exuded anger---his tight jaw, the tick in his angled cheek, his narrowed eyes, and the fist he made with his scarred hand. Even he, a mercenary zoid pilot paid to wage war, is shocked by the Nameless's reputation, she thought.  
  
After a moment he said, "I suppose he breathes fire and eat babies too."  
  
"You've heard of him," she said knowingly.  
  
He took a long, deep breath, and then just watched her intensely.  
  
She leaned forward a bit more, hoping he would agree. "I must get away and quickly. Surely you can understand why."  
  
"Now I understand a wealth of things."  
  
"Then will you help me?"  
  
Raven's expression was hard and he seemed to be trying to control some strong emotion.  
  
"I gave you all the cash I had."  
  
"Six days," he said so quietly she almost didn't hear him.  
  
She stood and walked over where he was. "It's not so terribly long."  
  
He gave a wry laugh and looked at her, his expression softer. "No, it's not very long at all."  
  
"I have nothing else to give you."  
  
Raven grumbled something.  
  
She smiled then, for she saw his answer without his speaking a word. By the time he murmured 'yeah' she had placed her hand on his chest, where legend claimed he had no heart.  
  
Yet beneath her palm, was a soft beat. The mercenary did have a heart.  
  
----  
  
Raven sat slumped in a chair and drank deeply from a tankard of strong beer. She had been gone from the tavern for a few minutes, long enough for him to watch her leave, then shouted at the barkeep to bring four more tankards---three for himself and one for an officer who was just stepping through a door hidden in the wooden panel of the wall. Raven stared at the liquor, then finally pinned the ashen blonde officer with a hard look.  
  
"It's done."  
  
The imperial army colonel didn't blink. He just calmly sat in the other chair. "So I heard."  
  
"Is your younger sister always so easily manipulated?"  
  
Karl took off his cap to reveal the familiar crown of blonde hair and the much assessing green eyes. He eyed Raven sharply. "Hardly, It has taken me years to figure out how she thinks." He paused, and then muttered something about still being a game of hit or miss.  
  
The two men sat in awkward silence.  
  
Karl sat up and said, "Two can play this game, Raven. And play it fairly. You had one week to woo her."  
  
Raven, the mercenary zoid pilot without a true name---a man that is nameless, returned the colonel's meaningful stare. "One week to convince her that I'm not the monster she thinks? One week to court her? I suppose I will manage to find the time---before I go out to murder women and roast children."  
  
The colonel said nothing, but he didn't look chagrined either. He rested his elbows on the table. His gaze was fixed on his hands clasped together closely in front of his face.  
  
After a moment he admitted quietly, "I had thought to keep Tamara away from the affairs of the world, and live in the domesticity of our family's heirloom mansion. She is---unique in a very special way. She became a very special part of Thomas and my life. We never thought of marriage for her, she is the only sister we had. I needn't barter her for a powerful man with forces to aid me. I've plenty of blood bonds."  
  
Raven eyed the imperial colonel. "But then I spotted her and used my influence with an ancient zoidian to my advantage."  
  
The colonel looked at him with accusation in his green eyes. "You're trying to let Reys break through my mind."  
  
Raven shrugged. "As I recall, she just noted a 'mental suggestion'. She does not want to hurt anyone for my sake."  
  
"And you think it almost work, did you?"  
  
"But I still foiled your plans to keep her for yourself."  
  
"I cherish my baby sister, Raven." The imperial army colonel pinned him with a hard stare that matched his own. "I had thought to keep her safe, and with me and Thomas."  
  
"I will not cause her any harm. She will want nothing. I gave you my word when you had me arrested few weeks ago."  
  
"Did she know of my offers?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Who told her such nonsense?"  
  
The colonel shrugged, "Servants talk."  
  
"Prompted by their masters with the right tales to tell?"  
  
The colonel said nothing.  
  
"What were you trying to do? Weight the scale in your favor? Rather like a merchant who adds chalk to salt, Karl."  
  
The colonel returned his direct look. "If you don't care of the terms, then find yourself another woman to wed."  
  
"I want Tamara."  
  
"You have one week to convince her you aren't what she thinks."  
  
"You filled her head with nonsense."  
  
"It was your idea that she not knows who you are."  
  
"I had thought to talk to her first, to ease the way before she heard of my offer of marriage. I'm not the monster you painted me."  
  
"Your reasons for dealing with Tamara are your own, Raven. I have my reasons too. I'll not force her to wed anyone. Not even if he's a skilled zoid pilot. I gave our mother my word I would never do so. Being the eldest sibling, I shoulder the responsibility to look after her. I will not break an oath to our dead mother."  
  
Raven eyed the older man, an officer who was still tall and lean but weathered by too many fights over too many years. And as angry as Raven was, he also couldn't blame Karl Schubaltz. Until now, he had not heard of the Colonel's vow. It could be debated in Karl's favor that a blood oath to one's dying family matriarch superseded even a forced agreement.  
  
The gray-haired pilot knew well that this was a time when men sold their brothers for power or wealth. Yet here before him was a regal Imperial army officer who couldn't betray his mother or her memory.  
  
And he couldn't fault the man for wanting to keep Tamara with him. Wasn't that exactly why he was wedding her himself? This strange need to have her in his life?  
  
"At the end of that week she will wed you willingly, or not wed you at all."  
  
Raven stood, his breath almost twice that of the colonel's, and he looked down at him. "She will wed me. This is not a battle I intend to lose."  
  
Karl regarded him for a time and then stood so they were almost eye to eye. "Perhaps. But my baby sister has a special gift for getting one to agree with her ideas before one realizes they've been hoodwinked."  
  
Raven handed the imperial army colonel the extra tankard, then raised his own. "I believe, Karl Schubaltz, that standing before me is the person whom she inherited that trait."  
  
-CONTINUED- 


End file.
